Breakdown of the Gender Pay Gap What is the Gender Pay Gap?

The gender pay (or wage) gap is the pay disparity between men and women expressed as a percentage

of male earnings. Often the pay gap is presented as the average difference between men and women’s

median earnings in a given year. This summary statistic is considered the raw, or unadjusted gender pay

gap because it does not account for factors that may affect earnings (e.g. hours worked, age, etc.). The

raw figure differs from the adjusted, or “unexplained” gender pay gap, which accounts for these varia-

bles.

As of 2014, for American full-time, year round workers

Raw Gender Pay Gap by State in 2014

Gender Earnings Ratio: 79% Raw Gender Pay Gap: 21%

Adjusted Gender

Pay Gap: 4.8% -12.4%

Part of the raw pay gap can be “explained” by a number of observable (and measurable)

differences in the characteristics of males and females. We know that low earnings are re-

flective of the fact that women often:

work less hours than men:

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But part of the gender pay gap remains “unexplained” in the form of an adjusted pay gap.

Women continue to be paid less for the same job, regardless of similar qualifications and

experience. The disparity perseveres across industries, occupations, and educational levels

because of:

engage in part-time employment more than men:

work in characteristically lower-paying professions:

experience greater labor force disruptions as a result of home/childcare:

explicit discrimination

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the devaluation of women’s work

traditions, stereotypes and implicit bias

unmeasurable structural and social factors that influence life choices

intangible or unknown omitted variables in statistical analyses

Some of the “explained” factors mask underlying “unexplained” factors such as discrimination, thereby

underestimating the size of the adjusted pay gap.

27% of mothers surveyed reported they quit their job for caregiving compared to 10% of

men (Pew Research Center, “On Pay Gap, Millennial Women Near Parity—For Now”, 2013)

Human capital investment in the form of education and training is no longer relevant in “explaining”

the gap; more females pursue higher education than their male counterparts.

23 of the 30 jobs in the bottom earnings decile are female-dominated (Liner, Third Way,

2016)

women, on average, worked 5.1 hours less per week than men in 2014 (BLS Databook, 2015)

on average, 26% of employed women compared to 13% of employed men in 2014 (BLS

Databook, 2015)

As part of a comprehensive report. For more information please visit http://www.vtlmi.info/

National Gender Pay Gap Trends An overview of the U.S gender wage gap demonstrates a substantially decreased, but persistent wage gap

between women and men. The erosion of the gap is considerable; yet, progress has been nonlinear. Ad-

vancements in education, workforce participation and higher-paying occupations, in conjunction with an

increasing wage rate among women, have significantly narrowed the gap since the 1970s. Despite these

gains, the rate at which the gender wage gap has declined has stalled. Since the early 2000s, the earnings

ratio has fluctuated between 79% and 83%.

Gender Earnings Ratio by Race

Black and Hispanic/Latina women show the largest gender pay gaps when compared to white men’s earn-

ings, but the smallest pay gaps when compared to men within their own racial categories. Likewise, Asian

women show the smallest gender pay gap when compared to white men’s earnings, but the largest pay gap

among the racial categories when compared to Asian men’s earnings.

In general, the earnings ratio is based on an aggregate of all workers irrespective of factors such as race,

age and education. The gender pay gap transforms dramatically when a different reference is applied.

How the Gender Pay Gap Affects Women of Different Demographics

Gender Earnings Ratio over Time

Data indicates that the gender wage gap tends to increase as workers age. Men and women begin employ-

ment with similar earnings. Among young cohorts (ages 16 to 34) the pay disparity is narrow—around 5-

10%. Many speculate that the gap grows after this point because women’s careers are more likely to be

Gender Earnings Ratio by Age

There is a positive relationship between education and earnings for both men and women; more educa-

tion translates into greater earnings. At every level of educational attainment, women’s median earnings

are less relative to men’s median earnings. While education increases earnings, it does not translate into

a narrower gender pay gap.

Gender Earnings Ratio by Education

As part of a comprehensive report. For more information please visit http://www.vtlmi.info/